Larry Bishop

The son of Rat Pack comedian Joey Bishop, actor/scribe Larry Bishop grew up in Southern California surrounded by the crème de la crème -- his close buddies included stars-to-be Rob Reiner and Richard Dreyfuss -- and attended prestigious Beverly Hills High School. For years, Bishop sustained himself with offbeat character roles, often in films populated by his friends, such as the AIP releases Wild in the Streets and The Savage Seven (both 1968) and the off-center comedy-mystery The Big Fix (1978), starring Dreyfuss.

Bishop branched out into production in a big way by scripting and helming the low-budget yet star-populated gangster spoof Mad Dog Time (1996); with a script that gestated for eight years before the cameras rolled, the project came to life thanks to Dreyfuss, who produced, starred, and helped Bishop line up a once-in-a-lifetime supporting cast including heavyweights Burt Reynolds, Richard Pryor, Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin,and Jeff Goldblum. The movie received wildly mixed reviews (The San Francisco Examiner praised it endlessly, while Roger Ebert felt it excruciatingly awful and gave it no stars), and, for better or worse, secured an extremely limited theatrical run, nearly going straight to video.

Thereafter, Bishop took a lengthy break from production, but returned in full force around a decade later thanks to buddy Quentin Tarantino, who cast him in a small role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 and produced his next directorial effort, the retro biker flick Hell Ride (2008).

~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide